Tuesday of last week, was the day of remembrance for Prime Minister Edward Moringe Sokoine’s death; who died in office on 12nd April, 1984; in a tragic road accident at Wami-Dakawa in Morogoro Region; when he was returning to Dar es Salaam from an ordinary Parliamentary session in Dodoma. Thus, today’s article is dedicated to our fallen leader, Premier Edward Sokoine, whom I had the privilege of working closely with during his whole tenure as Prime Minister. I had initially planned for this article to appear on Thursday of last week, 14th April; but ,instead, I gave preference to a piece on Mwalimu Nyerere’s centenary birthday commemoration event. Hence, its belated appearance a week later today. “Better late than never”, says an old English adage.
Prime Minister Sokoine and I
Edward Moringe Sokoine was a two-term Prime Minister; but not the usual five-year leadership terms, which are specified by the law of the land.
Prime Minister Sokoine and I
Edward Moringe Sokoine was a two-term Prime Minister; but not the usual five-year leadership terms, which are specified by the law of the land.
For, when he was first appointed to that position on 13th February, 1977; it was already mid-term of the 1975 – 1980 leadership period, when his first term expired. And during that period, I was the Executive Secretary of the ruling party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM); and thus worked very closely with him.
After that, he did not seek re-election in his Monduli constituency; for he had to go to Yugoslavia for treatment of some serious disease which was troubling him. After successful treatment there, he returned to the country in perfectly good health in February 1983; whereupon President Nyerere promptly nominated him back to Parliament, and re-appointed him to the position of Prime Minister, on February 24th, 1983. And I once again had the opportunity of working closely with him, this time in my capacity as Regional Commissioner for Kilimanjaro Region.
That was his second tenure in which he, unfortunately, served for a very short period of just over one year; when his life was abruptly terminated through his tragic death by the road accident already referred to above.
The Prime minister Edward Sokoine that I knew.
Under the One-Party Constitution which was in operation at the material time; It was a constitutional requirement that the President of Zanzibar also becomes the United Republic’s Vice President; which meant that the Vice President was a full time resident of Zanzibar. Thus the two national-level leaders who were full time residents of Dar es Salaam, and were thus readily available to President Nyerere for quick consultation or advise, were Prime Minister Edward Sokoine, and myself, the Executive Secretary of the ruling party.
And, very fortuitously , President Nyerere appeared to have full and genuine confidence in the two of us; because either one of us, or sometimes both of us together, were being called to his Msasani residence cum office for consultation on many different issues.
After that, he did not seek re-election in his Monduli constituency; for he had to go to Yugoslavia for treatment of some serious disease which was troubling him. After successful treatment there, he returned to the country in perfectly good health in February 1983; whereupon President Nyerere promptly nominated him back to Parliament, and re-appointed him to the position of Prime Minister, on February 24th, 1983. And I once again had the opportunity of working closely with him, this time in my capacity as Regional Commissioner for Kilimanjaro Region.
That was his second tenure in which he, unfortunately, served for a very short period of just over one year; when his life was abruptly terminated through his tragic death by the road accident already referred to above.
The Prime minister Edward Sokoine that I knew.
Under the One-Party Constitution which was in operation at the material time; It was a constitutional requirement that the President of Zanzibar also becomes the United Republic’s Vice President; which meant that the Vice President was a full time resident of Zanzibar. Thus the two national-level leaders who were full time residents of Dar es Salaam, and were thus readily available to President Nyerere for quick consultation or advise, were Prime Minister Edward Sokoine, and myself, the Executive Secretary of the ruling party.
And, very fortuitously , President Nyerere appeared to have full and genuine confidence in the two of us; because either one of us, or sometimes both of us together, were being called to his Msasani residence cum office for consultation on many different issues.
That is how I got to know Prime Minister Edward Sokoine, as a strong, result- oriented leader. He was, basically, “a man of action”; and his loyalty and commitment to serve the people was unquestionable; for he often undertook personal supervision in the process of implementing the major decisions, or directives, which were being made or issued by the ruling party and its government. This is easily confirmed by relevant examples, two of which are given in the paragraphs below. They are the “Kagera war”; and the internal ‘war’ against economic saboteurs.
The Kagera war against Uganda’s President Iddi Amin.
It was just over one year following Edward Sokoine’s elevation to the Premiership, when he was faced with a serious major crisis; namely, the management of the war against Iddi Amin Dada, the then President of the Republic of Uganda, who had ordered his armed forces to invade Tanzania, and had illegally occupied some 1,850 square kilometers of Tanzania’s Territory, in the present Kagera Region.
It was just over one year following Edward Sokoine’s elevation to the Premiership, when he was faced with a serious major crisis; namely, the management of the war against Iddi Amin Dada, the then President of the Republic of Uganda, who had ordered his armed forces to invade Tanzania, and had illegally occupied some 1,850 square kilometers of Tanzania’s Territory, in the present Kagera Region.
It was an unprecedented and extremely serious challenge to our sovereignty ; to which President Nyerere, in his capacity as the Commander-in Chief of Tanzania’s armed forces quickly responded, by declaring war against Iddi Amin.
He did that in a speech to the nation, delivered to a specially convened of Dar es Salaam Elders at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam Dares Salaam; which he concluded with the following immortal words: “SABABU ya kumpiga tunayo; NIA ya kumpiga tunayo; na UWEZO wa kumpiga tunao. TUTAMPIGA”. This is what subsequently became known as the “Kagera war”.
Premier Edward Sokoin’s role in that war.
Being the Chief Executive of the Government; Premier Edward Sokoine immediately swung into action by getting down to work on the relevant complex logistics. He supervised the establishment of specified inter-Ministerial working Committees, each of which was given specific duties and tasks to perform in managing the procurement and transportation of all the necessary supplies to the army at the front line in Kagera, especially the vital food supplies.
The food supply efforts were effectively supported by the ordinary wananchi, who had been mobilized by the ruling party to contribute any food items which they could provide. Their response was just amazing. For, large numbers of cattle were willingly offered by the wananchi; plus other items, mainly bags of rice, beans, and potatoes; were also received as voluntary contributions from Wananchi in all parts of the country. And, in my capacity as the party’s Chief Executive Officer, I was often invited to receive these donations, on behalf of the party.
To the Tanzania Army’s immense credit, they were able to complete all the necessary troop mobilization in a relatively short space of time; and launched what they named “Operation Chakaza”, on 4th December, 1977. which took them only weeks (not months), to flush the invaders out of Tanzania’s Territory.
On his part, Premier Sokoine (who had the advantage of having been the Minister of Defense prior to his elevation to the Premiership) ; had the added advantage of knowing personally all those army commanders who had been assigned to the front line. He therefore established direct communication lines with them, in order to get daily progress reports from the war front, which he promptly conveyed to the President.
But success in chasing the invading army out of our borders did not mean the end of that war; because the army was apprehensive of the unpredictable intentions of Uganda’s President Iddi Amin, and that gave them strong fears that he might be tempted to make another such invasion. Their practical solution for eliminating the possibility of that happening, and which they actually proposed to their Commander-in Chief, was to be allowed to march all the way to Kampala, and remove the threatening Iddi Amin from power.
He did that in a speech to the nation, delivered to a specially convened of Dar es Salaam Elders at the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam Dares Salaam; which he concluded with the following immortal words: “SABABU ya kumpiga tunayo; NIA ya kumpiga tunayo; na UWEZO wa kumpiga tunao. TUTAMPIGA”. This is what subsequently became known as the “Kagera war”.
Premier Edward Sokoin’s role in that war.
Being the Chief Executive of the Government; Premier Edward Sokoine immediately swung into action by getting down to work on the relevant complex logistics. He supervised the establishment of specified inter-Ministerial working Committees, each of which was given specific duties and tasks to perform in managing the procurement and transportation of all the necessary supplies to the army at the front line in Kagera, especially the vital food supplies.
The food supply efforts were effectively supported by the ordinary wananchi, who had been mobilized by the ruling party to contribute any food items which they could provide. Their response was just amazing. For, large numbers of cattle were willingly offered by the wananchi; plus other items, mainly bags of rice, beans, and potatoes; were also received as voluntary contributions from Wananchi in all parts of the country. And, in my capacity as the party’s Chief Executive Officer, I was often invited to receive these donations, on behalf of the party.
To the Tanzania Army’s immense credit, they were able to complete all the necessary troop mobilization in a relatively short space of time; and launched what they named “Operation Chakaza”, on 4th December, 1977. which took them only weeks (not months), to flush the invaders out of Tanzania’s Territory.
On his part, Premier Sokoine (who had the advantage of having been the Minister of Defense prior to his elevation to the Premiership) ; had the added advantage of knowing personally all those army commanders who had been assigned to the front line. He therefore established direct communication lines with them, in order to get daily progress reports from the war front, which he promptly conveyed to the President.
But success in chasing the invading army out of our borders did not mean the end of that war; because the army was apprehensive of the unpredictable intentions of Uganda’s President Iddi Amin, and that gave them strong fears that he might be tempted to make another such invasion. Their practical solution for eliminating the possibility of that happening, and which they actually proposed to their Commander-in Chief, was to be allowed to march all the way to Kampala, and remove the threatening Iddi Amin from power.
Initially, President Nyerere was, understandably, hesitant to agree to such an unusual request. But upon deep reflection and meditation , he eventually agreed, and issued the requisite order for that action to be taken. The Tanzania Army was again able to accomplish this task, and achieved the desired objective, in just about five months of professional action in the war field; with Premier Edward Sokoine ably managing the logistics.
The war against economic saboteurs.
Unfortunately, the end of the “Kagera war” against Uganda’s Iddi Amin, was rapidly followed by a host of other problems which suddenly emerged soon thereafter; including the steep rise in the prices of petroleum products worldwide. These negative occurrences created huge economic problems for our country, which even forced President Nyerere to reverse the promise he had made to the nation in 1975, that he was accepting nomination for the Presidential election for the last time. He had said, emphatically, that he would not accept similar nomination for the next following Presidential election of 1980.
Unfortunately, the end of the “Kagera war” against Uganda’s Iddi Amin, was rapidly followed by a host of other problems which suddenly emerged soon thereafter; including the steep rise in the prices of petroleum products worldwide. These negative occurrences created huge economic problems for our country, which even forced President Nyerere to reverse the promise he had made to the nation in 1975, that he was accepting nomination for the Presidential election for the last time. He had said, emphatically, that he would not accept similar nomination for the next following Presidential election of 1980.
But because of this extremely poor state of the country’s economy, President Nyerere was forced to reverse his earlier decision when the time for nomination for the 1980 election arrived; and gave the reason for his change of mind in a statement which said thus:- “If I refuse to continue serving the nation at this critical period, I will be considered being like the proverbial captain who abandoned his ship in the middle of a raging storm. I cannot do that. I must be brave and take responsibility for finding a solution, rather than leaving it to my successor”. Hence, he agreed to “soldier on”, and gracefully accepted nomination for the 1980 election, which returned him to office.
Subsequent events.
At the beginning of February 1983, former Premier Edward Sokoine returned to Tanzania from his successful treatment in Yugoslavia; and, as already stated above, on 24thof that month, President Nyerere re-appointed him Prime Minister; who now devoted all his energy to managing the nasty economic crisis; and designed a strategy for fighting the silent war against the presumed economic saboteurs .
At the beginning of February 1983, former Premier Edward Sokoine returned to Tanzania from his successful treatment in Yugoslavia; and, as already stated above, on 24thof that month, President Nyerere re-appointed him Prime Minister; who now devoted all his energy to managing the nasty economic crisis; and designed a strategy for fighting the silent war against the presumed economic saboteurs .
He first caused the enactment by Parliament, of a new law for that purpose, which was titled the “Economic sabotage Act”; which he then used as the strategic weapon for fighting that silent war. I was Regional Commissioner for Kilimanjaro Region at the time; and he seemed to remember well the ways in which we had worked effectively together during his previous tenure, when I was the Chief Executive Officer of the ruling party. This is because, under the country’s Constitution of that period, Regional Commissioners were also ex officio Members of Parliament. Premier Sokoine thus assigned to me the task of working with the Chief Parliamentary Draftsman, in preparing the Bill for that particular Act.
The operation itself against the economic saboteurs generally went well, under Premier Sokoine’s personal supervision; although it later transpired that some excesses and injustices had been committed by the leadership in some of the Regions, such as Bukoba; where a famous transport company known as “Kurgis Transport”, was made to suffered injustice; and subsequently had to be heavily compensated by the government, on court orders.
The involvement of ‘people with their own forex money’
Premier Sokoine had been told, that some rich persons in Kilimanjaro Region, were owning forex money which they kept in Kenyan Banks. He therefore one day summoned me to discuss ways in which we could possibly persuade these rich people of Kilimanjaro Region, to help in reducing that acute shortage of essential items using their own forex money.
In my capacity as Regional Commissioner, I had also known that these rich people were indeed operating businesses in Mombasa and Nairobi, in neighbouring Kenya, and were illegally smuggling goods into the Region. So, I suggested to him, and he quickly agreed, that such people should be allowed to import and sell the required goods into the country, free of any government restrictions. Soon thereafter, Prime Minister Sokoine made this announcement in Parliament. The news was received positively by the relevant traders who had their own forex money; and their positive response helped to reduce the acute shortage of such essential items. That was Prime Miniter Edward Moringe Sokoine. May his soul rest in eternal peace, AMEN.
piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.
piomsekwa@gmail.com /0754767576.
Source: Daily News today.